Gurugram Court issues arrest warrants against TV anchors Chitra Tripathi, Syed Suhail in POCSO case
Gurugram: A special court in Gurugram, Haryana, has issued non-bailable arrest warrants against TV news anchors Chitra Tripathi (ABP News) and Syed Suhail (Republic Bharat) in connection with a 2013 POCSO case.
The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Ashwani Kumar Mehta, passed the order after cancelling their bail and rejecting their requests for exemption from personal appearance in court. The court directed the SHO concerned to execute the warrants by November 30 and to appear in person if the warrants remain unexecuted.
Tripathi sought exemption, citing travel to Nasik for covering the Maharashtra elections, while Suhail sought relief on the grounds of travelling to Kanpur for by-election coverage. The court dismissed their applications, observing that both anchors had been taking the legal process lightly.
The case pertains to charges against eight journalists, including Tripathi, Suhail, and others, for allegedly airing "morphed, edited, and obscene" videos of a 10-year-old girl and her family linked to a sexual assault case involving self-styled godman Asaram Bapu. The journalists are accused of criminal conspiracy, forgery, and violating provisions under the POCSO Act and the IT Act.
Charges have been framed under IPC s.120B (criminal conspiracy), s.469 and s.471 (forgery), IT Act s.67B (abusing children online), s.67 (publishing or transmitting sexually explicit content), and POCSO Act s.23 (disclosure of identity of a child by media) and s.13C (indecent or obscene representation of a child).
The court emphasised the need for expeditious proceedings, as the case has already been delayed by nine years. The journalists face allegations of conspiring to forge and broadcast indecent content, thereby harming the reputation of the victim and her family.
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Jadeja, Washington fifties take India to 322/4 at tea
Manchester, Jul 27 (PTI): Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja extended India’s fight on day five of the fourth Test with determined half-centuries, giving the visitors a slender 11-run lead at tea time but more importantly raising visions of a morale boosting draw.
Both Jadeja (53 batting off 102) and Washington (58 batting off 139) batted with a strong purpose to save the game, frustrating a worn out England attack.
At tea, India were 322 for four after collecting 99 runs from a wicketless afternoon session.
Ben Stokes, who looked lethal in his eight over spell in the morning, could not keep up the intensity in the three overs he bowled in the second session.
In a 15-run over from Stokes, Washington pulled the England captain for a six and four to bring up his fifty before Jadeja employed the cut to complete his fifth half-century in six innings.
With not much batting to come and Rishabh Pant injured, it remains to be seen if India can pull off a draw from here.
What made England’s life difficult is that left-arm spinner Liam Dawson (0/70 in 39 overs) was not able to challenge the Indian left-handers enough while Jofra Archer too get could not get a breakthrough post lunch.
The second new ball is now 38 overs old, making batting easier.
In the morning session, Shubman Gill completed a gutsy hundred after Stokes battled through pain to dismiss a well set K L Rahul, leaving India at 223 for four at lunch.
Resuming the day at 174 for two with a deficit of 137, India remained on course to draw the game courtesy a fighting effort from Gill, who brought up his fourth century of the series. The Indian captain fell at the stroke of lunch with the visitors still trailing England by 88 runs.
Considering India’s backs against the walls and series on the line, this could be Gill’s most defining century if India managed to save the match and keep the series alive.
Expecting the ball to come back in, Gill felt for the one from Jofra Archer that shaped away, getting a faint outside edge.
The 188-run marathon stand between Gill and Rahul (90 off 230) was finally broken when the latter was trapped in front by Stokes with a ball that kept a tad low from length.
Soon after, Stokes got one jump to sharply from a similar length that foxed Rahul, leaving the Indian skipper in a lot of pain.
The rising ball first crashed into Gill’s right thumb before taking a piece of his
helmet.
It was remarkable that Stokes, who was not fit enough to bowl on day four, managed an eight-over spell on day five despite discomfort in his right shoulder and hamstring. Like at Lord’s, he did not care much about his injury prone body to help the team’s cause.
The new ball was taken after the 80th over and resulted in the wicket of Gill. Jadeja too would have be gone first ball but Joe Root could not hold on to a tough chance at first slip off Archer.
Brief scores:
India: 358 and 322/4 in 118 overs (KL Rahul 90, Shubman Gill 103, Ravindra Jadeja 53 batting, Washington Sundar 57 batting; Chris Woakes 2/57)
England 1st innings: 669 all out in 157.1 overs (Joe Root 150, Ben Stokes 141, Ben Duckett 94, Zak Crawley 84; Ravindra Jadeja 4/143).
